{"id":1383430,"date":"2022-03-16T05:25:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T09:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1383430"},"modified":"2022-03-16T08:09:29","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T12:09:29","slug":"virginia-democrats-call-homeschoolers-lazy-while-voting-to-keep-them-from-public-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-democrats-call-homeschoolers-lazy-while-voting-to-keep-them-from-public-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Democrats Call Homeschoolers Lazy While Voting To Keep Them From Public Services"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fvirginia-democrats-call-homeschoolers-lazy-while-voting-to-keep-them-from-public-services%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1383430&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Finishing its 60-day legislative session last Saturday, Virginia\u2019s General Assembly has proven an ideological battleground, with Democrats voting down nearly every Republican-presented bill, no matter how reasonable or representative of Virginians. On March 3, that mentality was front and center on the floor when Senate Democrats directed unnecessary insults and demeaning comments towards homeschoolers.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/cgi-bin\/legp604.exe?221+sum+HB511\">Equal Access Athletics<\/a>, HB 511, a local school choice bill, would allow school boards to determine whether homeschool students in their district could participate in public school sports. Similar legislation, already law in 35 states, has been voted down by Democrats in Virginia for years.<\/p>\n<p>In rural Virginia, where athletic recreational leagues and facilities are limited, this is an especially important option, said bill sponsor Del. Marie March, R-District 7. March described the local interest in developing relationships between homeschool and public school athletes as well as the limitations of rural locales. She pointed out that the inclusion of homeschoolers would also add another revenue stream for local schools to collect extra fees for athletics.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"insulting-homeschoolers\">Insulting Homeschoolers<\/h2>\n<p>Rather than discuss the bill, Democrats responded with pointed insults, indicating that homeschool students are both lazy and undeserving of playing for the high schools their parents\u2019 taxes support.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Janet Howell, a Democrat representing parts of Fairfax and Arlington Counties, cited a former colleague, Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr., who had <a href=\"https:\/\/virginia-senate.granicus.com\/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=3&#038;clip_id=5129&#038;eType=EmailBlastContent&#038;eId=3b3e7eb6-70b2-4828-983e-049fe5b1c1b1\">described<\/a> the inclusion of homeschoolers in local public school athletics as \u201cthose at home who can just lie on the couch and show up to compete.\u201d Potts later referred to that comment as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/archive\/local\/2005\/10\/14\/for-potts-politics-hits-close-to-home\/7b23fbab-767f-414c-9a3a-a6027e910f5e\/\">\u201cbig mistake.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think he had an excellent point then and I think this is very poorly thought out and I hope we\u2019ll defeat it,\u201d Howell <a href=\"https:\/\/virginia-senate.granicus.com\/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=3&#038;clip_id=5129&#038;eType=EmailBlastContent&#038;eId=3b3e7eb6-70b2-4828-983e-049fe5b1c1b1\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Fairfax senators\u2019 hostility was on full display, with Sens. Dick Saslaw and Chap Petersen (Democrats representing parts of Fairfax County and surrounding areas Alexandria, Falls Church, and Fairfax City) <a href=\"https:\/\/virginia-senate.granicus.com\/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=3&#038;clip_id=5129&#038;eType=EmailBlastContent&#038;eId=3b3e7eb6-70b2-4828-983e-049fe5b1c1b1\">adding<\/a> to Howell\u2019s rude remarks. Petersen quipped that \u201cthe city of Chesapeake knows they\u2019ve gotta load up to get ready for the city of Fairfax, and change their rules to prejudice my boy,\u201d in the upcoming football season. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not a \u201clevel\u201d playing field in the rural communities, March responded. \u201cThey might have enough people to have these high school teams if everybody out there wasn\u2019t homeschooling their kids,\u201d Saslaw <a href=\"https:\/\/virginia-senate.granicus.com\/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=3&#038;clip_id=5129&#038;eType=EmailBlastContent&#038;eId=3b3e7eb6-70b2-4828-983e-049fe5b1c1b1\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The bill was left to die in the Senate Education and Health Committee on March 3.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"schooling-senators-on-homeschooling\">Schooling Senators on Homeschooling<\/h2>\n<p>It is elected representatives\u2019 responsibility to be at the very least moderately educated on the issues they vote on. Here is some basic education on homeschoolers.<\/p>\n<p>Homeschooled students score 31 to 37 percentile points above public school students on standardized achievement tests. All that \u201clying around\u201d somehow results in outperforming their public school peers in academics, social development, and post-secondary school success. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nheri.org\/research-facts-on-homeschooling\/\">Seventy-eight percent<\/a> of peer-reviewed studies on academic achievement show this outperformance. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nheri.org\/research-facts-on-homeschooling\/\">Eighty-seven percent<\/a> of peer-reviewed studies on social, emotional, and psychological development show homeschooled students perform better than those in traditional schools. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nheri.org\/research-facts-on-homeschooling\/\">Sixty-nine percent<\/a> of peer-reviewed studies on success into adulthood, including college, show adults who were home educated outperform and succeed more than their traditionally schooled peers.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, those are just facts and data.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"homeschooled-athletes\">Homeschooled Athletes<\/h2>\n<p>Constituents in Fairfax County, whom Howell was elected to represent, have strong respect for homeschoolers as athletes and competitors. Many athletic leagues in the county already overlap and cater to the talent in this burgeoning group of athletes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn our state, we exist side-by-side with our public school colleagues, whom I admire and respect,\u201d said John Bliss, president of the Fairfax Homeschool Athletic Association. \u201cI\u2019m sure some of their programs would love to have some of our players if they could. Many of our athletes also play club and travel sports for the same teams as their public school peers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Homeschooled athletes in Fairfax County represent a large and highly competitive youth population.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur teams typically play more games per season and travel more widely [than public-school athletes], including state and national tournaments, which we sometimes win. Most notably our varsity girls basketball team, which once ranked as the number one homeschool team in the nation,\u201d Bliss said.<\/p>\n<p>Homeschoolers, in similar percentages relative to public schools in sports, have gone on to play at the college level, winning Division 1 scholarships in some cases and occasionally reaching the professional level.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"athlete-s-perspective\">Athlete\u2019s Perspective<\/h2>\n<p>Amy Coffin is a former Virginia Tech Division 1 scholarship lacrosse player and chairman of a 10-sport kindergarten to 8th grade community sports recreation league. Coffin has been involved with the league for nine years as chairman, commissioner, volunteer coach, and parent. She also coached varsity lacrosse in Fairfax County at the high school level for six seasons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have found that being homeschooled can sometimes allow families to work their school days to allow for more rigorous training, especially in individual sports such as gymnastics, horseback, or golf. In fact, families often choose to homeschool because it allows them to explore a broader learning environment, both from an academic and athletic perspective,\u201d Coffin said. So much for lying around all day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a volunteer coach, a civic-minded individual, and a seven-year homeschool mother of three healthy, athletic children, I am astonished that an elected representative would make such egregious comments about a group of individuals,\u201d Coffin said of Howell. She and her husband chose to homeschool to give their kids the best educational foundation that they could, she said: \u201cAll three of our children are not only thriving in their first year of brick-and-mortar school for the \u201921-22 year, but are leaders in their respective sports and top of their academic class.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Homeschool families pay the same property taxes as those who attend public school, and incur additional expenses in the education of their children, Coffin noted. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine telling these parents that their children are not permitted to take part in athletic programs that they have helped to financially support. I would love the opportunity to have a cup of coffee with Sen. Howell and answer any questions she has about homeschool.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"democrats-won-t-listen\">Democrats Won\u2019t Listen<\/h2>\n<p>Although the Home Education Association of Virginia (HEAV) remained neutral on the bill, the organization immediately published an email to patrons, encouraging them to contact Howell\u2019s office and demand an apology.<\/p>\n<p>When HEAV\u2019s lobbyist attempted to meet and discuss homeschool achievement with Howell the day following her remarks, the organization says she was cut short. Howell didn\u2019t appear interested in any dialogue with the state\u2019s largest homeschool organization.<\/p>\n<p>With a growing constituent base of homeschool voters, Democrats in Virginia may want to update their outdated, baseless prejudices.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Ashley Bateman is a policy writer for The Heartland Institute and blogger for Ascension Press. Her work has been featured in The Washington Times, The Daily Caller, The New York Post, The American Thinker and numerous other publications. She previously worked as an adjunct scholar for The Lexington Institute and as editor, writer and photographer for The Warner Weekly, a publication for the American military community in Bamberg, Germany. <\/p>\n<p>Ashley is a board member at a Catholic homeschool cooperative in Virginia. She homeschools her four incredible children along with her brilliant engineer\/scientist husband.e who lives in Virginia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Finishing its 60-day legislative session last Saturday, Virginia\u2019s General Assembly has proven an ideological battleground, with Democrats voting down nearly every Republican-presented bill, no<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1383430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1383430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1383430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1383430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1383430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}